A job for a caretaker
by Observer123
Summary: Traveling through time has its consequences, and Sly is about to encounter them in the form of a curious visitor who offers him a deal in exchange for the lives of his friends


Ah, life can be so magnificent sometimes. It was warm, the sun shined and the people had this nonchalant mood with that the day just passes by smoothly. So basically a nice day. Even though it was Monday. Actually the ancient Egyptians didn´t part the week into seven days, they had another system. But from a more modern point of view it would have been a Monday.

It was nice to socialize on such a day, although socialize overstated the case. I wore a black robe with a hood that covered my face and talked to no one. It was necessary to keep myself covered and because of that it was more enjoying the presence of other life forms than socializing. But even if talking to others was an option for me the only answer I would have received was "Shh!"

Not that I hadn´t understood this reaction. I mean I stood in the middle of the crowd that waited for the big event that the Pharaoh announced yesterday. The execution.  
>They wanted to decapitate this raccoon they found in the desert three days ago. His name was Sly Cooper. A name almost unspeakable for an ancient Egypt tongue so they gave him a new name, it´s hard to translate correctly but basically it´s their word for 'scum'.<p>

The reason why 'Scum' was led to the chopping block was in my opinion rather amusing. The raccoon´s beloved cane looked to similar to one of the Pharaoh´s regalia. Nothing more. From a modern perspective that would make people shake their heads but back then this was an affront against the leader. And there was no other sentence than death for doing that.

A slight grin grew on my unwatched face as they dragged Cooper onto the stage and it grew even bigger as they forced him to kneel down. I don´t know why but it was just so amusing to see these proud people kneel against their will. I have a slight feeling of satisfaction.

Soon Cooper would be dead, just a matter of minutes. Finally I would get the peace I need to clean up he messed in the timeline. As soon as his head would roll on the floor the biggest threat for the timeline was wiped of the earth´s face.

I maybe had to take care of the other survivors myself but it wouldn´t be that hard. An explosion in the turtle´s lab, a car crash for the hippo, a little shooting for the fox and the skunk and his minions… I hadn´t had any plan for them. Maybe just let them disappear in an extradimensional sphere between the fabrics of space and time? No one searched for them so no one would recognize if they were gone. Luckily I had already taken care of the mouse.

And after all of them are gone, and a cup of earl grey tea, I would have to take care of the aftermaths the whole time travel affair had. So the actual complicated stuff. That meant deleting memories of a lot of people and covering their traces. It was meticulous detail work and I hated that all so much.

It also had a certain Sisyphus component. You did everything on a place, cleaned all the mistakes, and then you travel to the next location just to start there all over again. Exhausting, but somebody had to do that.

I tried to not think about it. Now I just tried to enjoy the moment in which someone else would do the work for me. Sly´s head was just forced onto the block by a guard the pressed with his boot rather ungently on his back.  
><em>"Do not try to resist."<em> I thought. _"It will be faster if you do not do so."  
><em>  
>As a special part of his punishment, the Pharaoh ordered that Sly´s head should be cut off by his own cane. Of course the cane´s golden hook wasn´t nearly sharp enough to cut a head of but, as it seemed, the executioner had taken some time last night to make the hook sharp enough to cut a head off with it.<p>

Actually a nice gesture. I don´t want to imagine how long it would have taken with a blunt hook. Although, even with a sharp hook it´s not such an easy task. And even if I maybe smiled because of the raccoon´s immanent death I could just hope that executioner knew his work and wouldn´t need more than one stroke.

Silently the executioner, a big dog wearing black clothes and a mask in the same color, lunged out to do his work and was about to end the life of the man the crowd called 'Scum', as the raccoon seemed to remember that he wanted to live. With a swift move he brought his upper body into a straight position, making the guard behind him stumble backwards and fall the ground, while the hook in front of him hit the chopping block instead his head.

With his hands which he must have freed while he lied on the block he grabbed his cane and kicked the executioner, who still held it in his hands, away from it. I sighed as I saw him pulling the cane out of the wood. Why could this guy not except that he lost and die? Was that really so hard?

While the crowd around me started to panic because of the thief's escape, I just wandered of slowly to the side of the surge of people. I needed to get out of there because the tall figure in an ocean of smaller hysterical people would be just too suspicious. And the robe itself was unbelievably suspicious.

As I watched the people running in blind panic around I caught myself sighing again. It seemed like I also had to take care of that. It was obvious where the raccoon was, at least if you knew the topography of the area around the city.

There was a little cave approximately 7 kilometers away from the city. Under the premise that Sly wasn´t really well treated over the last days, so that he was wounded and was lacking water and food, he should have found this hideout… if he´s lucky. If not he would die in the desert.

In the end, and like in 99 percent of all cases, I should be right. As I reached the little cave I saw a weakly flickering light illuminating the entrance to the cave that reminded of the maw of a gigantic monster.

You could compare it to some kind of dragon especially with the light shining out of it but only if your fantasy is strong enough. Cautiously I climbed down the dry sandstone, always towards the light, until I reached a bigger cavern where I could locate the source of it.

Sly stared into the flames and poked with a stick in the fire. He looked tired and harried at the same time. His clothes where ripped and dirty, even dirtier than at the scaffold. This almost made me feel something like sympathy for him. He would die here, alone, in this cheerless cave. For a moment I hesitated, stayed at the dark spot I hid and thought if I should really do that.

Just stood there and watched how the raccoon was throwing more wood into his fire and shivered. The nights in the desert could get quite cold, cold enough that you really need the fire to warm up yourself and not just to drive away the flies.

It took a while but finally ratio in me gained a victory over the pity for the raccoon. It had to be done after all. I uttered a longer sigh and then stepped into the light of the fire.  
>"Who´s there?!" startled grabbed Sly his cane. He was ready to fight but incapable to do so, that was sure. But he would fight until he couldn´t fight anymore.<p>

"Well, Mister Cooper your situation seems rather… hopeless." I said walking towards to him.  
>The thief let his cane sank surprised down. He hadn´t expected, after hearing the Egyptian tongue the last days, hearing his language again.<p>

"Kind of." He admitted raising his cane again after the first surprise. "Who are you?"  
>"The one who cleans up after you, Sly."<br>"So you are some kind of caretaker. If that´s so, where is your mop?" Sly smirked with this arrogant and complacent smile.

"Oh, rebellious like all Coopers I met… and I met all you met to clean up."  
>And as soon as this sentence was spoken, the smile was, to my great joy, gone.<br>"What have you done to them?" his hands clinging tightly to the cane ready to take revenge in the moment he thought it would be necessary.

"Nothing. Just manipulated their thoughts. They are important for the course of history until now, also they are no time travelers that do not know what they are doing. So, all in all, there is no need to harm them. But… you Mister Cooper… well."

"Bring it on." Growled Sly. "I think I can handle you, punk."  
>"You will see, Mister Cooper. I am different from anything you have fought yet." I said stressing almost every word with a deep voice. "So as I see that, you choose to die in a fight?"<p>

"Yes, I do!" Sly called and rushed towards me. His plan seemed that he wanted to beat his cane on my head. Sure, the enemies he thought would have problems with the fast attack of the thief but I simply stretched out my hand and grabbed the sharp hook of the cane. Sly looked startled at me.

The cane should have chopped of my hand but it didn´t even leave a scratch on me. The raccoon didn´t stare at me for long, I used my empty hand to form a fist which I rammed into the raccoon´s stomach. Like hit by a truck Sly flew through the cave and was just stopped by the rough sandstone wall.

And then, it was over. Sly maybe was alive but not he couldn´t flee anymore. His spine must be broken if I have estimated the power of my punch right.  
>Sighing I walked towards the blood coughing Cooper. "I really not a friend of doing that, Mister Cooper. I really could imagine doing nicer things."<p>

"Me…too." He breathed trying to stand up. But no matter how often he tried, he just couldn´t move his feet. He was doomed to stay at that spot. "Please…" he coughed. "I usually don´t do that but… I don´t want to die here…"

"You are begging for your live Mister Cooper?" I asked raising my eyebrow. A gesture he actually didn´t see because my head was still hid under that hood.  
>"No! No, I have honor…" He meant quickly. "I just want to die somewhere nice… on a beach maybe." That was maybe either an attempt of him to buy some time or just a way to say that he will never surrender.<p>

"Of course." I said and then flicked my fingers. The surrounding area started to blur and to become brighter. Not a minute later Sly´s bleeding body lay on the white warm sand of a Caribbean beach. Terrified he gazed around not having any idea how that could have happened.

In panic he tried to stand up and run to some of the palm trees that were standing about 20 meters away from where he lied. He must have had be so unbelievably scared of me right now. And that made me smirk somehow.

"Well, better Mister Cooper?" I asked with the unseen smile on my face.  
>"But how… how…" Sly stammered.<br>"Well, from a primitive point of view, like yours, it could be called magic. But do not worry, it is completely scientifically explainable. Even though you would not understand the science either… or the math. Not even the basic principles." I laughed amusedly. "Anyway, Mister Cooper. I think we should end this."

I took the cane and wanted to end Sly´s life with a stroke from his own weapon but before I did so I lifted the hood of my robe and showed him my face, as a gesture of respect. And again Sly was terrified. And again, I grinned. But this time he saw my grin, what terrified him even more.

But that was normal. I mean, he had never seen something like that. Something like me, with the appearance of a relic from old times. So after some hyperventilating he finally managed it to ask me the standard question. Or rather screamed it out. "What… what… WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

"Well, part of an ancient species that called themselves humans ones. But now… well, let us say we are different now. You can call me the Advisor... not that we will talk much." I smiled softly. "And if you have stared enough now. I like to end that. I have to do that with the other time travelers as well."

"Wait wait wait!" shouted Sly in panic as I lunged out with the cane. "What do you mean?"  
>"Well…" I sighed annoyed. I spend too much time here already. "I have to get rid of Paradox and his crew, this turtle Bentley, this… what was his name? Murray. And the Interpol agent…"<br>"No! Please!" Sly suddenly started begging and grabbing desperately my legs interrupting my enumeration. "Leave them alone. I beg you!"

"So you finally beg, Mister Cooper? Well, not for your own life as it seems. But I cannot leave them alone. They have to be silenced so that they are unable to do another time travel."  
>"But… but… isn´t there another way?"<p>

"I am open for suggestions." I meant still with the cane raised high in the air.  
>"I don´t know… exile them, delete their memories… I don´t know!"<br>"Well, exiling is mostly not working… it is odd but even the dumbest people break out of the safest prisons if you give them enough time. And deleting memories is… rather complicated. You cannot really delete them. So if the person is not really important for the course of history, you do not do that." I explained.

"But but… what if we just promise not to time travel again?"  
>"A promise?" Well that was something that really made me laugh. "And what would keep you from not breaking this promise?"<br>"Maybe the fear that a weird thing comes and then kills us?"

I stopped laughing and gazed at him dumbfoundedly. "Your point." I mumbled.  
>"See?" breathed the raccoon out in relieve.<br>"Well… but it would be much easier for me to end it here… or…" I rammed the cane into the sand and started to scratch my chin pensively.

I had an idea that would make my life much easier.  
>"What?" Sly asked and sat up.<br>"Well, okay. I let you and the others of the hook. But only on one condition. And that is that you will do the dirty work for me."

"And you promise me to let the others go than?" he asked hopefully.  
>"Yes, I do. But I warn you. I will let you go through hell." I stated with a firm voice. "Your life will belong to me."<br>"Deal…" Meant Sly rapidly. "Just leave them alone."  
>"You are worried about this vixen, right?" I smirked.<p>

Sly didn´t comment on that, instead he tried to stand up somehow. With all his power he tried to get back on his feet. He really thought in this moment that our deal would depend on the fact if he was able to walk or not. Thus he got more and more nervous the longer he couldn´t stand up.

"Oh come on…" I sighed after I saw enough and then flicked with my fingers. And suddenly Sly was able to stand up again.  
>"How…?" he wondered for a second before his eyes fell on me again.<p>

"Yes…" I smirked. "And now, the first job. It is an easy one. You saw the Pharaoh there? Well, he actually should die in about… 17 hours. But thanks to your arrival here the assassins that were responsible for his demise were… evaporated by an energy discharge. So it is your job now."

"What?!" Sly asked shocked. He didn´t want to do that. After all he was a thief and no assassin.  
>"I think my explanations were quite simple. Simple enough that someone like you understands them." I said calmly showing him with every word that I meant it when I said 'Your life will belong to me'. "Anyway, they used a poison to kill him. You can mix it out of some plants you can find in the desert. Just mix everything together you find out there, that should do it. I think you will make it." With a superior grin I flicked my fingers.<p>

Once again the area around us blurred and soon we were back in the cave.  
>"Okay, Mister Cooper. Enough for now. Go to sleep or what I would recommend start with the job. Try to kill him more or less in 17 hours. It does not have to be exactly in 17 hours. Just do it tomorrow… History forgives little temporal discrepancies." I chuckled loudly. "Odd, right? It bears a little bit of irony."<p>

And then in the next second, I and my laughter were gone. And Sly was alone in this cave. With thousand questions that were running through his head and no time to find answers to them

**-Well, that´s it for now. I have an second chapter halfway done but I don´t know if I will continue. Well, hope you enjoyed it. :)-**


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